The One I Love
by PrimaFaba
Summary: COMPLETE. Just when Tori thought her nightmares were over, they returned with a vengeance. But will she escape so easily this time? Part 2 of the Cassandra's Legacy series. Tori/Blake for now, rated T for some violent imagery
1. Chapter 1: In the Dark

**Cassandra's Legacy:**

**Book 2: The One I Love**

_A/N: This is the sequel to __My Last Breath__. It is written in a slightly different style than MLB and it is a few chapters shorter, but that's just how it came out. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own PRNS or any other thing Power Rangers. I also don't own the song "The One I Love" by The Rasmus from their album Dead Letters._

Chapter 1: In the Dark

Tori lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. _It wasn't supposed to be this way,_ she thought indignantly. _This isn't fair. _

_**Haven't slept in a week,**_

_**My bed has become my coffin.**_

_**Cannot breathe, cannot speak.**_

_**My head's like a bomb, still waiting.  
Take my heart and take my soul,**_

_**I don't need them anymore.**_

Only a week ago she had finally escaped her last nightmare. That one had been terrible enough. For 2 weeks the dream had terrorized her. At last it had hit her in the real world. But in real life she survived the battle that had killed her in the land of dreams. She told her friends—shared a pretty deep insecurity with them as well—and they reassured her . They would never abandon her or look down on her, they said. They loved her. Everything was tied up, right? Now there was another dream. Only this one was worse. It was far, far worse.

_**The one I love **_

_**Is striking me down on my knees.**_

_**The one I love,**_

_**Drowning me in my dreams,**_

_**The one I love,**_

_**Over and over again,**_

_**Dragging me under.**_

She closed her eyes, reliving the terrible images. Strong arms swung at her with a heavy bat, first bringing her to her knees, then knocking her to the ground. Beating her until she couldn't take it anymore. Beating her until reality and her mind blurred and it was hard to tell which was which. Destroying her until death seemed almost an option.

Then she was being dragged, dragged to the pool at the foot of the waterfall by Ninja Ops, the pool she had walked on and through, swam in, for nearly 2 years. Under the water, waves lapped above her head. She struggled to reach the surface only to be forced under, over and over and over. Eventually she could no longer struggle. She had no room left to breathe. One more dunk would finish her. The arms began to push her under. And as the cool water lapped around her chin she looked up into her murderer's face in defiance. And it was Blake's face. Blake's face. And that killed her more than the endless waters ever did. She loved being held in his arms, the tender feel of his hand in hers, the soft electricity that flowed when their eyes met.

But she could no longer find comfort there. Not now. The last time, telling the others had helped, even if it had been after the fact. But they could not fight this phantom. And she could not tell them. This was an entirely different matter.

Not to mention, what if it came true? After all, the last one did.

_**Hypnotized by the night**_

_**Silently rising beside me,**_

_**Emptiness, nothingness**_

_**Is burning a hole inside me.**_

_**Take my faith and take my pride,**_

_**I don't need them anymore. **_

The shadows of her room hovered around Tori in the darkness. She shivered and fled beneath her covers, rolled up in a tight ball of fear. Tori had never been afraid of the dark before. Never, not even as a child. Which was why this irrational fear, this fear which she could not escape terrified her. She wiped away a tear thinking of her friends.

They wondered what was wrong with her. They questioned her endlessly, pleading her to tell them what was wrong, what was bothering her. They reminded her that as her friends they would always be there for her, no matter what was going on that she thought she couldn't share. But what could she do? She couldn't tell them the truth. Not any of them. What would they think?. And if Blake heard….What would Blake think? She loved him, she didn't want to fear him, but it was hard not to. Every time he lovingly wrapped his arms around her was bliss until she looked down and saw those arms and remembered them striking her down.

Her life had been nothing this past week .She battled Lothor, did her schoolwork, but she didn't hang around much. Mostly she spent her time in her favorite, secret cove on the beach, which none of her friends knew how to find, nor even knew existed. She was safe from their concerns there.

Tori tried to go on, but how impossible was that with this great emptiness? The one she loved was going to kill her.

_**The one I love**_

_**Is striking me down on my knees.**_

_**The one I love,**_

_**Drowning me in my dreams,**_

_**The one I love,**_

_**Over and over again,**_

_**Dragging me under.**_

Tori closed her eyes for a moment in weariness. She was so tired, and she wanted to sleep so badly. But she knew if she fell asleep she would have the dream again, so she couldn't.

She opened her eyes again and saw a bat swinging at her face. She opened her mouth to scream but there was no voice to scream with. Swoosh! Again the bat swung at her. An evil laugh echoed in the background. The voice sounded familiar….The bat swung at her head, hard, until she fell to her knees. Another few swings and she was on the ground, completely unable to defend herself. She felt those once-gentle hands she loved, now rough, dragging her to the water, pushing her under…and under…and under…and then the great betrayal, those eyes, and she saw Blake.

_**This bed has become my chapel of stone,**_

_**A garden of darkness to where I'm thrown.**_

_**So take my life, I don't need it anymore.**_

She opened her eyes again and she was back in her room. "Oh God, I can't live like this anymore!" she cried aloud in anguish. _There's no need to even get up._ _For how can I live, knowing this?_ "There's no need to go on," she whispered. "There's no way left to go on. Not if..." _Not if this is what's going to happen. _


	2. Chapter 2: Lying From You

Chapter 2: Lying from You

The next day, as soon as Tori entered Ops, she felt her friends' worried glances trained on her. She supposed she knew why. The best cover-up could not disguise the dark circles under her eyes, from this last week of lost sleep compounded with the 2 weeks the last dream had lasted. And the circles had not been this bad on the day of Seamstra's attack, so it was clear to the others that once again she was losing sleep.

She was also a bad liar. She knew her friends could tell **something **was bothering her, but that they didn't know what. Thankfully, as far as she could tell the **last** thing on their minds was that she might be having another prophetic nightmare. But they still seemed worried, and that would be a problem.

"Hey Tor, you okay?" Hunter said, placing a concerned hand on her arm as she joined them in waiting for Sensei around the low table. She nodded with as much perkiness as she could muster in her exhausted state.

"Mmm-hmm. Why?" He shrugged.

"Uh, no reason. You just look a little tired." Tori shrugged with a small smile.

"I guess I just haven't quite caught up on those 2 weeks of sleep."

"Oh," Hunter replied. From the corner of her eye Tori could see her friends' faces. She knew they weren't swallowing it. But then Sensei arrived and had the Rangers start their training. She was okay for most of it. But then came the sparring.

That day Tori was assigned to spar with Dustin. Dustin was not the best fighter and often held back on Tori because he didn't want to hurt her. Normally, Tori saw no reason to hold back just because he was. She could usually beat him pretty badly within 5 minutes. But today she was just plain exhausted. She had no sleep and she was preoccupied with thoughts of the dream, no matter how hard she tried to concentrate. After 15 minutes of sparring, Dustin got a kick past her, landed her on her butt, and pinned her. Sensei complimented him on his improving ninja skills, but Tori could see confusion in her friend's eyes. Slowly he got up and reached out a hand to pull her to her feet. He exchanged glances with Cam, Hunter, Shane, and Blake.

"Dude, Tori, are you **sure** you're all right?" She smiled perkily, despite the fact that she felt like passing out and sleeping for hours right about now.

"I'm fine, guys. Really." Dustin laughed a little, nervously.

"Well it's just that normally you beat me pretty bad and pretty fast, and well…I've never seen you spar that bad, Tor."

"Yeah," Shane chimed in. "You were totally distracted, Dustin got a lot past you that he shouldn't have. C'mon Tori, fess up. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just a little tired, that's all. "Tori glanced at her watch. "Can we have this conversation later? I'm supposed to meet my dad for lunch in a half hour."

"Sure," Shane shrugged. "Whatever."

"But Tori," Blake said. Tori looked at him. "If something's bothering you, you know you can always come to us. " She nodded.

"I know. " She stretched and retrieved her backpack. "Sorry guys, I really gotta jet. See you later." As she headed out the door, she yelled over her shoulder, "I should be done in about an hour and a half if you guys wanna hang."

As soon as she was safely in her van, she sighed in relief. "That was way too close. "


	3. Author's Note

AUTHORS NOTE: 

First I just want to say, thank you so much to everyone who has been reading, reviewing, and/or adding my stories to their alerts – it is a major source of encouragement especially as I am a fairly new writer!

Secondly I would like to apologize for the EXTREME delay in getting the rest of this story written. I know it has been quite some time and I promised I would not let my stories lapse, but, sometimes things happen. Long story short I've been dealing with some very complicated goings on in my personal life, leading to a fairly-intense bout of depression, which in turn has resulted in general exhuastion and writer's block. I'm not at 100% yet, but, I am trying to work on it.

What also has not contributed is that this past weekend, when I was finally at a point of working on my stories again, I realized that the disk containing all of my writing (years worth of short stories and poems as well as fanfics published and un-published) was nowhere to be found. In fact I have torn my living area apart and have found no sign of it. I know I brought it with me on a trip a few weeks back, because I was intending to write, so best I can guess I may have left it in the hotel.

Which does NOT mean that I am abandoning this story; far from it. What it DOES mean is that I will be trying to reconstruct these stories from scratch around a really intense work schedule, so, you guys might need to bear with me even more than you have so far. I have a short week this week so I am hoping that I might be able to get at least a chapter or two posted in the very near future. In the meantime, thank you so much again for all of your reviews and alert-adds, and for being patient with me! I know it's been kind of a bumpy road with this story, but hopefully the ending (when I rewrite it) will be worth it!

- PrimaFaba


	4. Chapter 3: Underneath this Smile

_First, I just want to thank everyone and anyone who is still following this story through everything – I know it's been a rough ride and I certainly hope the story's worth it! _

_As I mentioned in my last note, things have been a little difficult on my end. Fortunately, I've had a stroke of good luck this week – not only was I able to quit the job that was making me miserable (and pick up a new one), I also found drafts of most of my stories, including this one, archived on my old computer. That, of course, makes it much easier to reconstruct my thoughts, and when combined with recent, positive events, I am hoping to be able to update on a regular basis once more. _

_In the meantime, I'm uploading two chapters tonight and starting immediately on a third one, which I hope to be able to post by the end of next week (when I start my new job). Enjoy! As always, reviews are much appreciated _

Chapter 3: Underneath this Smile 

Tori tried to keep face for as long as possible – who knew if the guys had followed her out?—but she could feel her forced smile slipping long before she had made her way back to the highway. It was just too hard – too hard to hide her terror, too hard to pretend she wasn't dead tired, too hard to keep up the lies **especially** in light of what had already happened.

Which fact begged another question: what was she going to **do**? The lies and secrecy were only a temporary fix, and barely that – they were already suspicious and there was no way she'd be able to hold out much longer. Seriously-speaking, she was dealing with five trained ninjas and a ninja sensei – odds were, they'd find a way to make her talk.

_Okay, secrecy definitely not an option_. She could make something up – could be a pretty decent liar when she tried – but she was hard-pressed to think of anything that could have been worth concealing for so long, short of the real thing of course.

_So what are my options, as far as the truth goes? _Tori asked herself. The answer was less than encouraging: really, nothing short of full disclosure would do it. She supposed she could leave out Blake's name, but what good would that do? In order to prevent anything, the guys would have to know where the threat would be coming from – and an inside job probably wouldn't be anywhere in their top 100 guesses. There'd be no point in giving them only partial information, or lying outright; either way, they could do nothing, and either way, once the event had occurred and the truth come out, they would be left to wonder why she had lied – maybe even blame themselves. No, it would have to be 100% or nothing at all, and that, she had no idea how to handle.

_Of course_, she thought to herself morbidly, _I could just hang in there. Sooner or later, it'll happen for real, and then none of this will matter at all…._

_Beeeep! _Tori was jolted out of her thoughts and instinctively slammed on the brakes as a red SVU kidded to a stop mere feet from her van, honking angrily. She hadn't even realized she'd made it back to the highway. Tori sheepishly waved at the driver, and received a rude gesture and a few choice words in response. She put one hand to her forehead and shook herself a little.

_I've got to start getting sleep soon, or I'm not even going to be able to drive_. Shaking herself again, Tori switched on her directional and carefully pulled out into highway.


	5. Chapter 4: The One I Love, Part 1

Chapter 4: The One I Love, Part 1

_ About a week later…_

Tori sat outside Ninja Ops, staring at the pool in which she had felt herself die so many times. She wasn't late; in fact she was early for training, a feat she had only managed to accomplish by staying up all night. Her eyes and head hurt just thinking about the long evening hours. She'd holed up in her room, draining cup after cup of strong coffee, watching the sky turn from deep twilight to darkness, then back to pale gray, pink, and blue—not the healthiest idea, perhaps, but it had seemed the best way to escape the dreams and allow for some quiet time to think. Unfortunately, even extending her waking hours hadn't presented a solution to the problem.

She shifted uneasily, knowing that her friends would be along soon and pretense would have to go back up… but for now she needed this time to think about the dream and what it meant. She needed to think about what to do, because she couldn't take it much longer. Dying at Blake's hands…was not something she could continue to relive every night.

Suddenly she felt an impact on the back of her head. Crying out in pain she rose to her feet and spun to confront her attacker, managing to pull together a fighting stance despite her dizziness and exhaustion. Hardly had she focused on her attacker when her knees nearly buckled beneath her—she stiffened, trying to pull it together despite the sudden, powerful ache in her heart. Standing there in his uniform, smirking evilly at her, was Blake himself. And he had a bat in his hand.

"Oh God oh God oh God. Please no, please no!" she began to whimper to herself hysterically. Her hands trembled uncontrollably as he swung the bat again; she groaned as she failed to dodge the blow and the hard wooden surface connected with her shoulder.

"Whatsa matter, Tor?" he mocked her. "Too girly to take a hit?" He swung again, laughing, and for a split second she thought there was something wrong with this picture, but it left her quickly as she felt the impact. Over and over again he swung, and over and over again she tried to escape his blows, but in vain.

_**The one I love**_

_**Is striking me down on my knees.**_

_**The one I love,**_

_**Drowning me in my dreams,**_

_**The one I love,**_

_**Over and over again,**_

_**Dragging me under**_

Finally, Tori could take it no more, and collapsed. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that Blake was doing this, or if it was the pain, but her body refused to fight back. She barely felt her aching knees connect with the hard dirt, couldn't stop the rest of her body from folding over her uncooperative limbs. She lay limp on the ground, knowing he would come to her to finish her off. He grabbed her by her long hair, laughing as she groaned in pain, and dragged her to the pool.

"Blake, please," she gasped out through her pain. "Don't…." His only response was to laugh and throw her in the pool. A gentle sinking, then a yank and she was gasping for air. And then again. Under the water, out, under the water, out. It was all she could do to keep conscious.

Finally, she felt a dimness in her senses, an incredible exhaustion, and Tori knew she was about to die. One more shove would be more than enough; she'd never get herself to the surface, never be able to fight off the strong arms in which she had once sought refuge.

Blake pulled Tori up by her wrists, smiling at her, but it was a cold smile that chilled her to the bone. He kissed her on the forehead. Tori felt sick. Was this all she had ever meant to him? _How could I have been so wrong? _

Then he whispered, "Goodbye, Tori," and shoved her into the pool.


	6. Chapter 5: The One I Love, Part 2

Chapter 5: The One I Love, Part 2 

As Tori slipped beneath the water, she could barely discern a series of muffled sounds over the soft bubbling of the water…maybe shouts but it was hard to tell.

_They're here…_ Tori thought, knowing it was her other friends. _…But they're too late. _

She felt her vision began to darken. Her lungs felt ready to explode, and the pressure from the water fall was pounding into her, but she couldn't seem to make the motions to swim. She tried to pretend the pain wasn't there, staring up into the bright sunlight twinkling through the water above as she sank to the bottom…

But suddenly a splash broke the clean surface, and before she quite knew it strong arms wrapped around her, and whichever of her friends it was, holding her close, bore her to the surface, tenderly lifted her from the water, laid her on the grass, turned her on her side. Gasping for breath and coughing up water, Tori couldn't see who it was at first. Then she looked up at the figure cradling her in his arms, concern filling his eyes.

Blake?

"Tori," he said, gently pulling her to sit up, "Tori, are you okay?" Then Tori looked over and saw the unthinkable. She saw Hunter tackling…Blake….She looked back at her rescuer. Still Blake. And then at the guy Hunter had tackled. Also Blake. And as she watched Hunter slammed Blake down, somehow managing to disable him, and the morpher on his wrist sparked and fizzled, and suddenly the image of Blake dissipated into that of…..

Lothor.

"And stay down!" Hunter yelled, throwing his whole weight on the space ninja to emphasize the command.

Lothor. It was Lothor.


	7. Chapter 6: The Reasons

Chapter 6: The Reasons

Lothor. It was Lothor. The whole thing had been a trick, a lie. And she…she had fallen for it. Tears welled up in her eyes, although she couldn't quite pinpoint why she was crying. Was it because she was happy that it hadn't really been Blake…or because she was shaken because she had come so close to not making it at all…or were these tears of shame because she had fallen for Lothor's trick for even a moment?

"Tori," Blake said again. "Are you all right?" His voice was filled with concern.

"I…..don't know," Tori finally managed to say. Blake brought a hand up to her cheek, and Tori flinched. The look of pain in his eyes then nearly killed her, but she couldn't help it. He looked at her slowly and brought his hand closer. This time she didn't flinch. He lifted her face to his and stared into her eyes searchingly. His eyes suddenly widened in horror as he recognized what he saw there: she was afraid of him….

_***FLASHBACK***_

_ Blake, Hunter, Shane, Dustin, and Cam were heading through the woods on their way to training, after a less-than-productive session at the MotoX track. Cam had been trying to take some video footage of Dustin and the two Thunders racing, but the whole thing had devolved into bickering of 125 bikes versus 250s, who was the better rider, etc., until Shane called an end to it and said they'd all be late for training if they didn't hurry. _

_ "Funny, how Tori wasn't home when we called. She's never late," Shane remarked._

_ "Well, dude, maybe she got her own ride," Dustin pointed out, gesturing with his hands as usual. "I mean, there's no like, law that says she has to ride with us everyday."_

_ "I wouldn't think she'd have passed up the chance to ride with Blake," Shane muttered under his breath. Everyone laughed, except for Blake, who had been spacing out._

_ "What? Huh?" Hunter laughed mockingly._

_ "Oh, c'mon bro, everyone knows by now that Tori totally digs you." Blake blushed._

_ "Whatever." _

_ Still laughing and talking, the group reached the ring of bushes and tress surrounding the waterfall which led to Ops. Cam suddenly raised a hand and stopped in his tracks. _

_ "Stay still, and don't say anything." Dustin looked at him weirdly. Cam glanced back. "Listen."_

_ There were voices, and faint moans, and splashes, coming from the clearing surrounding the waterfall. Then he heard a voice, a plea ringing out: "…please….don't," and it was Tori's voice. Blake tossed a swift glance at the others to see if they had heard it too. They had. _

_ "Come on, we better check it out," Hunter said. They nodded and ran into the clearing. Tori was nowhere to be seen, but there was a dark figure standing by the pool, holding a baseball bat, and just pulling a ninja hood over its features…. _

_The figure turned around but its face was obscured by the hood. The five male Rangers surrounded it and stood in combat poses. After a few moments of flurried fighting Dustin got in a hit and the figure fell backwards and the hood flew off, and there was Blake's face…! But there was no time to think about that, because Blake had just caught sight of a shape…Tori…drifting downwards through the water. Without a second thought he turned and dove in….._

_***END FLASHBACK***_

"You thought it was me." Blake managed to say. It was not a question. Tori tried to say something but her throat was too tight. All she could manage was a tearful nod. "Oh God," he whispered, and pulled her close. "Oh God, Tor, I am so sorry." Tori clung to him as if her life depended on it.

"I was so scared," she whispered. "I didn't think you guys would come in time. I…."

"It's okay, Tor," Blake reassured her, gently stroking her hair. I'm here. I would never hurt you. Never."

"I know." She whispered, burying her face in his chest.

Dustin and Shane approached the two Rangers cautiously, Hunter and Cam still being preoccupied with holding Lothor down.

"Is she okay?" Shane asked softly. Blake nodded.

"Yeah. More shaken than anything else, I think. "Dustin knelt down and placed a hand on her arm.

"Y'okay, Tor?" She raised her head and nodded slowly.

"Wow, you've had a rough couple o' weeks, huh?" Shane joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Rough **month**, "Dustin corrected.

"Yeah, whatever," Shane said.

"What should we do with this piece of trash?" Hunter asked through gritted teeth, indicating Lothor.

"Let him go?" Shane shrugged. Dustin stared at him like he was crazy.

"Um, hey dude…wouldn't it be better to just **destroy** him and save ourselves a lot of work?" The team stared at him.

"He has a point," Cam said. But with a sudden movement, Lothor managed to throw off both Cam and Hunter's grips.

"Not today, Power Rangers," he laughed, and teleported out in a flash. Hunter sighed in frustration and shook his fists angrily.

"Argh! We almost had him. Man, we really need to destroy that guy." Dustin rolled his eyes.

"Dudes, you had him **right there**. Why on earth didn't you just destroy him **then** instead of hanging around waiting for him to escape? "

"I…have no idea," Cam sighed. "Can you drop it for a few minutes, Dustin?" He looked at Tori with concern. "We should probably get inside and run a med scan on you, Tori." She looked up at him and nodded wordlessly.

"Can you walk?" Blake asked her gently, releasing her from the tight hug. She nodded.

"I think so." He helped her stand up and walked beside her to make sure she didn't fall as the six Rangers walked towards the waterfall.


	8. Chapter 7: Revelation

_Disclaimer: Despite accidentally posting the last few chapters minus this...nope, I still own NOTHING. Absolutely NONE of it. NADA. _

Chapter 7: Revelation

Inside Ninja Ops, Cam ran a quick scan on Tori. After about 10 minutes of analyzing the data, he declared,

"Well, for someone who was almost drowned, you're in remarkably good health, Tori. Just a few scrapes and bruises is all. "The Rangers sighed in relief—except Tori. Tori was thinking. She was thinking about whether or not she ought to tell her friends the truth about her dream.

Before she had time to change her mind, Tori blurted out, "Guys, I have a confession to make." She did not meet any of their eyes.

Blake, Hunter, Dustin, Shane, and Cam exchanged worried glances. "What is it, Tori?" Cam asked. Tori took a deep breath. Without looking up, she spoke.

"I knew this was going to happen." The room was absolutely silent. No one moved. Desperate to fill the emptiness, Tori heard herself start to talk again.

"It was just like last time. I had a dream about it," she confessed, staring at her feet. Unsure of what to say next, she stopped talking.

"What?" Dustin finally managed to say. "Seriously? Again? " Tori nodded.

"How long?" Hunter asked. Tori looked up.

"What?"

"How long had you had this dream?" Tori shrugged, trying to appear more nonchalant than she felt.

"A couple of weeks?"

Blake finally found his voice. "Tori, why didn't you **say **anything?" Tori flashed a grim, lopsided smile.

"I didn't know what to say. Would you?" There was really no answer for that, except for grudging agreement.

"So…what does this mean?" Dustin asked hesitantly. Hunter looked at him quizzically.

"What does what mean?"

"Well, I mean…two dreams in a row, now. Both about Tori dying. One involving Blake. What does this **mean**?" He almost fearfully, concernedly, at Tori, who in turn turned a pale face to Cam. The Green Samurai Ranger sighed, adjusted his glasses, and a ran hand through his dark hair.

"…I have no idea," he admitted.

"Maybe it doesn't mean anything?" Blake asked hopefully. Cam pursed his lips in a way that totally contradicted his reply,

"Maybe it doesn't."

FIN

_A/N: A very short/anticlimactic ending, I know...but don't worry, the story isn't QUITE over yet. Sequel "My Bloody Valentine" to follow, hopefully in a week or so (although I am working straight through next weekend, so we shall see). As always, reviews/constructive criticisms are appreciated, and I'd just like to say another huge THANK YOU to anyone who is still reading after the crazy, unexpected hiatus in the midst of this story, and especially to those who have taken the time to review! Things are still bumpy on my end but stable enough that I expect to be back to a regular update schedule with the new installment, and maybe even starting some new, shorter fics. _

_Finally, a Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US! _

_-Primafaba_


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